Dalmeny’s, Nikki Ayers made history on Monday (September 1 local time) winning Australia’s first ever gold medal in the rowing at the 2024 Paralympics.
The 33-year-old and her rowing partner, Jed Altschwager, proved too strong in the PR3 Mixed Double Sculls, hitting the front early on in the race then retaining the lead throughout to finish first ahead of Great Britain and Germany.
If you don’t know Nikki’s incredible story, listen to our recentchat with her on the iHeart Far South Coast podcast below.
“That’s (winning gold) as athletes the pinnacle of what we do, once we achieve that we can’t achieve anything higher in terms of greatness,” Ayers told ARN Bega Bay.
Ayers had this advice for any young people on the Far South Coast who have dreams of becoming an Olympian or a Paralympian one day.
“My advice would be don’t ever give up, you have your dreams and your goals and if you don’t achieve a goal or the outcome you want, just reflect in that moment,” Ayers said.
“Failure is a positive and you can grow and be better from it.”
A contingent of Nikki’s family and friends are still coming to terms with the historic win, after travelling to Paris to cheer her on.
Sister, Megan says, she’s proud of the resilience Nikki has shown after a cruel leg injury brought Nikki’s promising rugby career crashing down a few years back.
“Her goal since the accident happened has just achieve the best she can be,” Megan said.
“And she’s already the best to us, she doesn’t need a gold medal in our eyes but yeah it’s pretty amazing,” she continued.
“Really proud of Nikki and what’s she’s overcome, and it shows our kids and other kids that just because something bad happens it doesn’t always have to be a bad thing, it can be a good thing.
“Coming from a small town like Dalmeny, you don’t have many people that achieve something so great.
“To be able to show the future generations that even when you come from a small town where you don’t get much support from the government that you can still do it, you can get out there and go for it.”
Images: Nikki Ayers
